My New Design Wall

 

As you may remember, I had two side by side design walls that were insulation board covered with gridded flannel. They worked okay, but the flannel was slouchy and the grid didn't line up well. My OCD self was not happy looking at this every day. I ended up moving one of the design walls behind the door of my sewing room as seen above. I'm using this one for storage of sorts...blocks for quilts in progress. 

And now for the new!

These are compressed felt squares from Felt Right. They have lots of colors and shapes, but I went with simple gray squares. They are easy to install.

Here's my finished wall. I'm thrilled! Nothing sags and everything lines up. My OCD self is happy!

And here it is in use. So happy I did this. Now I need to finalize and order wallpaper for the closet, hang a a few things, and this room will be done.

I finished a quilt this weekend! I'll share it soon.

Stay safe!

Winter Blues!

I love this quilt! Winter Blues was so fun to make. I really focused my blues toward navy so I can use this in our master bedroom. I'm thrilled with it!

The border was super simple and fast.

Now I have to wait for the backing fabric to come in from Hancock's of Paducah. They have sent me an email saying the other fabric in the order (upholstery fabric for headboard) will be delayed by a few weeks. That's okay. I can wait.

I also finished 8 new Daniel Tiger masks for someone's 1st birthday party. Ugga Mugga!

I'm playing with peel and stick wallpaper samples I've received. Here are two possibilities for my sewing room closet.

And here are some options for the powder room. 

The vanity in here is navy. No decisions yet. I may need to order more samples.

Today I think I'll work on basting Marshal and finishing the binding on a quilt. 

Stay safe! Enjoy the weekend!

 

Caught Up!

 

Over the weekend, I finished the 16 houses for Color My World and I did the February step - the Mariner's Compass for the center of the quilt. More houses to come in future months to finish that circle, and there will be a road in between the Mariner's Compass and the houses.

As long as it took me to pick a background fabric and wait for it to come in...I'm thrilled to catch up before March.

The pin basting is well underway on Marshal. I'm about 1/3 of the way done.

As for Winter Blues...I've made and sewn on two borders. Two more to go. I'll wait until the top is complete to share another photo.

It's warming up! Yay! Sadie and I took TWO walks yesterday! So happy to be back outside a bit.

Hubby and I received our first vaccine 1 1/2 weeks ago. We had no problems with side effects. We are lucky to live in our city - they are giving the vaccines free - you don't even have to use your insurance card. They have rented an empty store (formerly Tuesday Morning) and have set up an efficient vaccine center there manned with medical professionals and volunteers. It runs like a charm. If you volunteer for a 4 hour shift, you receive your vaccine at the end of your shift, no matter your age or eligibility. 

Hope you continue to stay safe!

Border and Basting

 

Mid-week check in! I've begun to make the pieces for the border for Winter Blues. These are easy peasy and fast! This quilt top will be done soon. I've ordered backing fabric from Hancocks of Paducah - the same order as my upholstery fabric for our master BR headboard. They have been slow on the shipping end this year....so it may be a few weeks before it comes in. That's okay. I can be patient.

As you can tell, I've been primarily focused on this quilt lately. Other projects (Cheddar Bowties and Happy Birds) have had to wait. And that's okay. The end is near!

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I did find time this week to prepare Marshal for basting. It's all ready on our dining room table. Over the next couple of weeks (or less?) I'll sit there and pin baste.

Here are a few vegetables that came in the mail yesterday. Yes, the mail!!!! I've subscribed to Misfits Market. I get shipment of vegetables once per week for only $22. Eleven different items each week. I've seen no 'misfits' - everything so far has been wonderful quality. And I get to pick which vegetables/fruits I receive. I'm incorporating everything into our meals and we are loving it all. This week I also received some beautiful red and yellow bell peppers, beets, lettuce, radishes, Roma tomatoes, grapefruit, and more.

If you'd like to try Misfits Market yourself, here's a $10 coupon to start you off: COUPON.

We are far enough south that we didn't get all the winter mess that many did. We did have some snow flurries one morning and that was it. But it has been too cold for my daily walks. However, I do burn lots of calories following Sadie around inside- haha! She's very busy these days and keeps me on my toes. Lots of fun to be had here!

Stay safe!

One More Border To Go!

I made my goal of finishing the main part of Winter Blues yesterday. Today I added the inner border. Now I'm ready for the final border. Yay!

Here was my other big project over the weekend. I had bought this pottery barn chair a couple of months ago. Yesterday I finally got up the nerve to embroider 'Sadie' over 'William.' 

Ta-dah!!!! I know it's not exactly perfect - a little bit wonky - but I'm pleased nonetheless.  This chair lives at our house. 

Have you heard of this viral recipe? I decided to make it tonight, splurging a bit on my diet. Here's the version I tried: recipe here. SO GOOD! Perfect for Valentines Day.

Stay safe!

 

Slowly, But Surely...

The rows in the upper left are now sewn together - yay! The rows in the middle are sewn into rows, but are separate still. In the bottom right corner...still individual blocks and sashing pieces. I'm hoping to have the center of Winter Blues in one big piece by the end of the week.

I decided this was big enough, so no more blocks to make. But I still have to make the pieced border. The border looks pretty simple though. 

Over the weekend I made a couple of Color My World houses, too. I'm up to 9 out of the 16. Maybe I can finish the houses this week???? We'll see.

And my other quilting accomplishment was to find the fabric I had purchased months ago for the backing of Marshal. I pieced it together and pressed it. I found the batting in my closet and opened it up. It's draped over dining room chairs to air out and let the wrinkles release themselves. I'll be able to start basting Marshall soon! You may remember, I want to quilt it myself.

I've gotten into the routine of cooking vegetables on Sundays for the week ahead. I typically roast two sheet pans of veggies drizzled with a bit of olive oil. What you see above is chopped turnip, red onion, red pepper, broccoli, and baby carrots. I add whatever I have on hand...sometimes chopped sweet potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, etc. We never get tired of this.

I also baked a lot of potatoes. We like potatoes! I chop some up and saute in olive oil for breakfast. Others are warmed to go with dinner.  And for more vegetables, I cooked collard greens in my Instant Pot. 

I hit a wall recently with creating meals - so lately, we been grilling more - hubby does that. The side dishes are ready to warm and dinner is served quickly.

My blood pressure has been NORMAL for the last week or so! I've been working so hard on it. I discovered that bottled salad dressings are full of sodium, so I now make my own dressing. Yes, I made salad dressing for the week yesterday, also. I can't believe I no longer drink coffee - I'd been drinking it my entire adult life! But I really don't miss it. What I miss is the ritual of drinking coffee while easing into my morning. Hot tea has become the substitute and I love it now!

Here's a meal from last week - grilled salmon (topped with Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper), mashed potatoes, baby broccoli, and salad with radishes and my homemade salad dressing. We eat well and a LOT, but I've lost several pounds in the last month. Yippee for me! Hubby eats the same things I do, but he adds bread, salt, sweets, regular salad dressing, soft drinks, coffee...all those yummy things. But I don't miss those things and I'm so glad I have avoided blood pressure medicine. 

That's it for today...stay safe!!! 

 

Sewing Rows

I have begun to sew Winter Blues into rows. The rows are not sewn together yet. The upper left is where I've started. 

I'm still not sure if it's the size I want yet. By only sewing the rows together, I will still be able to add more to the right side if needed before sewing the rows together. I'm still REALLY loving this quilt!

I need to get busy on other redecorating in our master bedroom. I want to reupholster the headboard. I've picked out the fabric online at Hancock's of Paducah. Here's the link if you're interested. I've decided I can do this myself with some help from Hubby. Hopefully I'll get the fabric order today. Then I want to pick out a peel and stick wallpaper to install behind the bed. 

I'm also making progress on Color My World. I only have to make one more of this size house. Then I have to make 8 of another size house. And then I'll be ready for the February instructions.

Uh oh. My huge cone of Aurifil is almost empty. No worries, I have plenty of other thread - but I can't believe I've used up this entire cone!

Stay safe!